Minth - Culture, Places and Terms
Cultures, places and terms relative to the planet Minth in the Realm of Kuldorii. Minth Map Locations in the Kingdom of Meitroz The following define locations within the Kingdom of Meitroz. Dorfhead The Ketomeyer Peninsula is where the town of Dorfhead resides. Dorfhead is a farming community. Through much effort, all the Kuduu has been eliminated on the Ketomeyer peninsula, and the entrance to the bridge leading to the islet is protected by gardeners who keep the Kuduu out. Massive amounts of farming takes place here. It is also where one of the three skeins on Minth lies. Morokai Harbor town – fishing village – down the Western Coast from Dorfhead. West and slightly North of Hezwuuld. Home of Emo Kallaiope. Meitroz Kingdom where Roki has lived her life, home of the Kuduu. In the Realm of Kuldorii Pendor Captial city. This is where King Ottair holds court, and where the "Forbidden City" of the capital exists behind the walls of the main palace. Pendor is the second largest city of Meitroz next to Midland. Midland Home of much of the Kingdom's technological production facilities, Midland is where airships are constructed, where rumblers are built for the military, and home to a large number of SpellBinders. The Binders Guild is very active here. It also contains the Binders Academy. Bragmeyer Home to the Bragmeyer Prison, the main prison for the Kingdom. Beasts of Burden Animals of Minth used by the inhabitants. Fooker The "horse" replacement for Minth. Fookers are nasty tempered reptiles that look somewhat similar to horses in basic shape, but are reptilian in nature. Gloxayn Gloxayn are huge bison with large heat-shedding antlers similar to moose. They're roughly the size of a very large buffalo. And there's no automatic spell checker in here is there? Anyway, Gloxayn (often refered to as gloxies) are tame mellow animals used for hauling carts, plowing fields, and for meat and leather. Fricken Fricken are "fire breathing chickens." There isn't much more about them that's different than a chicken except that they breath fire. These things come from the original Tanathian homeworld, and have been part of the culture from the beginning. Obviously, special care and handling goes into dealing with frickens. People use fire proof gloves and clothing and shields. Fricken are placed in special fricken cages made from metal, usually with the open end of the cage facing a stone wall. Fricken are fairly tame, and won't breath fire on their handlers. Usually they only spew fire when they're scared or riled up. Currency of Meitroz *Tridee = 10 Terin *Terin = 10 Cronos *Cronos = Base Unit Terminology Naptha Liquid used by Firemen to kill Kuduu. Four Moons of Minth: '''DTar (romance), SaLing (wishing), MayJur (small), Emerald '''Slijj '''A form of iced sugary porridge beloved by children and adults alike. Basically like ice cream, it’s made from the blended roots of the peodang plant. '''Flurigon It had a long fanged snout and fangs that protruded from its lower jaw. Its legs were bent backwards. The rear limbs ended in three claws, but the fore-limbs ended in something like hands. Kamboolii has a bottle of them. They can fly on feathered wings. They’re about the size of a man’s head. Mandorian The Language of the Kingdom of Meitroz Tridee: Term for a gold coin in Meitroz – their primary denomination. Currency. Cronos: copper coins of low value. Zoral: Critter common to Minth. Predator rodent with a long fuzzy body like a ferret. Kuduu: the living jungle that surrounds the cities within the Kingdom of Meitroz. Only becomes highly active (fast) when the emerald moon rises. Fooker '''Fooker were odd looking creatures. If you took the skeleton of a horse and replaced the legs with that of a tiger and then threw a little muscle on the bones and covered the whole thing with reptile skin, you’d get something that looked like a Fooker. Reptilian in nature, they were obnoxious foul tempered beasts that required extensive training. But they were also fast, and they weren’t frightened of the Kuduu. '''Gardener: The premier warriors that fight back the Kuduu. Skein of Eadros: The portal leading between the realms. Ka: Magical energy generated by living things. Morain: Shape-shifting servants of the Drathraq. They are bred from lycans. Drathraq: The Drathraq are the primary protagonists. They are a race of Drow Vampires that have a long history, and they’ve developed a lot of technology. They are responsible for the creation of the Morain and a variety of other unsavory monster races. Krisna: Enchanted monocle used by Spellbinders to view runes. Excisor Lord: Wu Lord sent to find things and negotiate. Senjita Technique: Sphere of death rune on Master Jerguns silver gauntlet. Activated by the first hexagon. Mimetic Disk: '''Mimetic disks were a fairly common construct. Nobles and the wealthy often purchased them. They were expensive toys that altered shape into useful objects when Ka was placed into them. '''Shego '''Weapon. Vanbracers with clawed hands that overlap the users real hands. '''Zeroz Weapon. Once there had been many of these, a backup weapon for the Templars of Ardus who served the Order of Keomin on the world of Fallon that lay in the Realm of Mentel. It could cut through flesh and bone like it was moving through water. Useless against metal armor though. Finkle '''Dice came that Kai carries with her and plays with Shoto and Brendy. '''D’tar '''One of the four moons of Minth, D’tar is associated with romance and love. '''Trilius: The unreal realm – a telepathic network that the Drathraq have created in Hulu for communication and communion. Uses “Trill” nodes. Third cluster of Ahtrith – a vestibule. Essentially the Drathraq version of the Ultralatim – a virtual reality world using organic nodes and telepathy. Telekon Node: Telekon nodes exist in the realm of Hulu and are devices used for telekinetic and telepathic control over various systems. They are runic in nature and non-organic. Xeo: Drathraq unit of currency. Hangaramath Drow insult (asshole) Weapons ThunderBluss: A breach loaded Ka powered projectile weapon roughly the size of a sawed off shotgun. They come in several varieties: single, double, quad, penti and hex barreled. Some fire slugs charged with Ka for extra damage, while other simply launch a slug. Slugs may vary. MagnoBluss: A heavy bluss typically mounted to a turret. These operate the same way as the ThunderBluss but fire a much larger projectile. They are typically used against armored targets. They are often referred to as “heavy blusses.” Bombard: Like a bluss, but larger and firing explosive shells. On Minth, there are two types – one for shredding Kuduu and one for killing people (used for warfare). Carbino Bluss: Invented by the older version of the SpellBinder Quiggerly Jaggert, the carbine bluss is a standard Ka-powered bluss that contains a revolving cylinder instead of being breach loaded and can fire up to nine slugs. Arcbluss: Invented by the older version of the SpellBinder Quiggerly Jaggert, the arcbluss uses magical dimlok runelore to store the rounds and can fire rapidly. It is fully automatic and the dimlok runes can hold thousands of rounds. Additional runes operate as heat sinks to absorb the heat generated by the rapid fire. Quig has the only working version and will not mass produce them believing they will alter the balance of power on Minth. VitoBluss: These are a smaller variety of bluss with a single shot breach loaded mechanism, roughly the size of a pirate pistol. There is also a two shot variety with barrels one on top the other. Jergun's Crux Long ranged single shot hunting rifle. Druhael Quad Breach Four shot large slug with tendency to jam. Leemon Half-Hander Designed for minimal recoil so that someone missing two fingers could fire it. Turned out to be a good concealed weapon for other people, so it became somewhat popular. Thundercuss Doublebluss Made from stamped steel and produced in large quantities for Kingdom of Meitroz troops Fulgoth Bombard Rare weapon used by original settlers, fires a single shot from breach, very large, highly inaccurate, but the slug is hex patterned for detonation. Zalguard Hackbut Double shot bluss, breach loaded, butt and muzzle equipped with steel blades for mele combat. Simmons Caliver Long bore rifle, single shot, small round, made for range. Has additional cross hairs and rifling. Used for sniping. More advanced versions are equipped with as Shenshia scope. Shenshia Scope Very rare, using optics similar to those deployed by dreamcasters but reversed to pull light in and project it into the eye of the shooter, allowing them to see at extreme distances. Gardening Shears Standard = triangle, and a circle, and a rectangle. Jerguns sheers also have two hexagons. The triangle powers the lift, the circle represents the blade, and the rectangle retracts the blade back into position. You should be able to move the circle with your mind. That’s the hardest part to learn. Reach out with your mind and concentrate on the circle. Move it over a target, like those vines over there. Feed your Ka into the triangle. That’s tricky too, because you have to control your Ka flow. Too much, and the blade will spin out of control. Too little and it won’t spin fast enough. A thread of light runs from the sheer to the blade, it’s called a Katrail. It can’t get tangled, it’s just energy. The circle represents the blade. You have to keep the circle horizontal to what you’re cutting. However the circle is oriented, the blade matches. To retracting, feed Ka into the rectangle. The zip-cut is a sequence that sends the blade out, cuts something, and brings it straight back to the gauntlet. Target, push, and pull. The Senjita technique. First hexagon in Jerguns’ sheer. The blade circles in a spherical pattern quite rapidly, increasing in speed until it generates a rotating ball of death that can be directed, expanded, and basically slices the shit out of everything it comes across. The Porova technique. Second hexagon on Jerguns’ sheer. The blades create a spherical pattern locked around the Gardener, making a ball of protection with the Gardener in the center. This isn't particularly beneficial for anyone standing near the Gardener. Clothing I use robes a lot, and I have a lot of different cultures, so I also use jerkins, trousers, all sorts of armor, vests, sweaters, dresses, kilts, military uniforms, etc. Personally, I hate describing attire, so I try to keep it to a minimum. When I do describe it, I try and keep it simple - type of outfit and color if I feel it applies. The Drathraq wear an under-armor of lexxian, a type of liquid crystal that hardens on impact. Over that they wear a dark uniform with minimal design, relying on telepathy to identify each other. Gardeners wear a gold colored armor - an alloy - and a green cloak. Morain wear the clothing of their victims. Peasants and peons on Minth typically wear cloth trousers and blouses. I usually describe robes as having trim, designs, and colors that designate the order of the individual, if they have an order that they ascribe to. Moons of Minth Minth possesses four moons counting the Emerald Moon. The Emerald Moon is special, and has no net effect on the tides of Minth. The other three moons are standard moons of varying size, all affecting Minth's tides to some degree. *DTar - the romance moon, red in color. *SaLing - the wishing moon, gold in color. *MajJur - the smallest moon, but brightest (white) due to its mineral content. *Emerald - the Emerald moon. The Emerald Moon (Spoiler Info) The Emerald Moon is a crystal device set into high orbit over Minth. It was originally constructed by the Tanathians when they first colonized Minth. Its function is to absorb Ka-del, the type of Ka absorbed by the Kuduu. At some point after the fall of the Tanathian Empire, the Emerald Moon was either damaged or set to dump the Ka it absorbs every three weeks. This is what causes an “Emerald Rising.” In addition to the Emerald Risings, there is also another dump called the “Emerald Obliteration” or the “Millennial Doom” or the “Millennium Moon” or the “Emerald Darkness.” This occurs every 1000 years, and during this time the emerald moon ceases to operate for a month to perform cleanup operations. For four weeks during the Millennium Moon the Kuduu goes wild and invades the cities and farmlands, wiping out much of the architecture. Humans move underground during this time, and when they resurface they must rebuild everything that was destroyed. The “Deeps” or the “Undercities” were designed for this purpose. Redoubts, vaults, and sanctuaries exist throughout Minth to provide safe havens for populations during the Emerald Darkness. Time on Minth in years is counted by the Emerald Darkness. This is referred to as a “Darkening” and with the world “Age” after it. So, the fifth Darkening is called the Fifth Age. Year 238 of the Fifth Darkening (or Fifth Age) would be 5238 years after the fall of the Tanathian Empire. About Ka "Ka" is the term I use for a quantity of magic stored internally. This is equivalent to a Chi/Ki model. In my current multiverse, the Fey (or Fae, of which there are many types) absorb Ka in much greater quantities than humans do, but both absorb it. Ka comes from the sky (essentially part of sunlight and starlight - radiation). The largest quantity of Ka is absorbed by the Kuduu - a plant that covers the entire planet and is essentially one entity although composite in nature and made from many many different types of plants. Kuduu doesn't exist everywhere, but it's an integral part of my story and the three worlds over which the story takes place all have Kuduu. A "Ka well" is the term for Ka stored internally. Everyone absorbs Ka, and everyone has a well of the stuff. How extensive that well is varies from person to person, and may increase over time the more frequently Ka is used. Fey cannot tap the Kuduu for energy, but because their Ka well is so extensive, they typically have far more Ka available to them than your average human. Some of the darker Fey will form bargains with humans to allow them the use of their Ka in return for their soul when they die. There do exist some entities that can tap the Ka in Kuduu, but they are derived from the Kuduu itself. How Ka can be used is dependent on the realm you exist in. Almost all realms allow SpellBinding through embedding patterns in metal and feeding Ka into it. Essentially, this is electrical circuitry but with magic as a power source. Ka flows through the embedded patterns that SpellBinders create, and alters physics in a localized area as denoted by the logic in the switches. SpellBinders are effectively programmers who know how to create these embedded patterns. They use a series of runic languages for this purpose. The use of SpellBound objects and artifacts (magic items) is possible by using Ka as a power source. People feed their Ka into these objects to activate them, and engage mental (illusionary) interfaces that appear to them when the objects are activated. These objects span the spectrum from something as advanced as a golem with an embedded mentality and multiple runic components to a simple hot plate you can use to cook on. My primary world where much of the story takes place does not have an aether, and the magic there is limited to SpellBinding (what would typically be referred to as Enchanting objects). But on many worlds there is an aether. The term aether refers to a pocket dimension that Ka can be fed into. Aether can hold patterns, and on worlds with an aether there is both SpellBinding and AirWeaving. AirWeaving is the art of "programming" the aether temporarily with memorized patterns. AirWeavers are essentially SpellBinders that bind to the aether rather than metal. The Fey are innate AirWeavers and on worlds without an aether, they can only produce a few innate effects that are typically limited by their type. On worlds with an aether, they have additional abilities (if they have learned the art). AirWeaving is more like "casting a spell" but it still had an interface in the mage's mind. They "see" what they are weaving in the aether even though others don't (because it's in their own mind's eye) and manipulate the patterns internally from memorized programming components. Professions dealing with magic include SpellBinding, AirWeaving, Alchemy - which is embedding patterns in crystal suspended in a liquid, Necromancy - which involves both Alchemy and SpellBinding, and other professions which are usual mixtures of these arts that are combined to produce a specific product or effect. If you run out of Ka, there is no ill-effect from it. At least for humans. They do get a little tired expending Ka, it requires concentration. Streaming large amounts of Ka out of your body (or into it) puts a strain on the system. Fey require it and can't allow their Ka well to go completely dry. If a Fey is feeding Ka to a human, for example, they typically shut down the connection before they run dry, saving a quantity for their own use. Although Fey/Human connection isn't a common thing at all. Category:Minth - Culture, Places, and Technology